Great video! I have owned and used a Dore Westbury for several years, and use it for model engineering in my workshop, it really is a great machine for the smaller workshop, you just need to know its limitations and work accordingly. Good to see some of your modifications too, given me some ideas. Thank you for producing this lovely video
Thank you for showing your Dore Westbury. I own and use a Mark 2 version and having seen some of your “upgrades” I am inspired to add them to my own machine. It’s a fabulous machine for the home engineer. 👏👏👍😀
Glad you enjoyed it! The MK2 is even better, mainly because of the extra quill travel. We have a MK2 head casting for a future upgrade. Thanks for watching.
This was awesome! Sometimes it’s not about moving the machine in any car but the shear fact that we need something to fit in a smaller space or deal with micro parts that prove to be difficult to achieve in bigger/regular sized machines, even though not impossible, it is just easier and, in my opinion, more enjoyable and challenging! Great presentation with examples and clear information in terms of machinery that otherwise most of us wouldn’t know about! Thank you!
I don't know if you've heard this trick, but apparently, one of the easiest ways to maintain head alignment when raising and lowering these is to solidly mount a cheap laser pointer on the head, have it pointing across the workshop at a clear patch of wall, then mark a vertical line over there. Once you get the height adjusted you just need to swing the column until the laser dot is back on your line. Ok, a laser pointer isn't exactly a "Period correct" modification, but if the mills actually being used for paying work, it might be a useful shortcut to keeping head alignment.
I have tried the laser idea, but found that the size of the dot is quite large and it led to an inaccuracy bigger than I was happy with. I wonder if a more expensive laser would have a better resolution? I do like the idea of a fixed post against which a rotating collar can be aligned as demonstrated here. I am definitely going to adapt that idea for my machine.
I have heard of this modification. As Andrew mentioned, I have concerns about the accuracy due to the spot size but it think it might need some investigation. The fixed post approach works well - the slight issue being any innacuracies in that rotating collar do get transfered into head position. These are small though and can be sorted by always moving the collar by an integer number of turns. There are a few other tricks you can use, for instance, rather than aligning the head for a reaming operation, the post can be left unlocked, allowing the reamer to 'float' to position. It's certainly a quirk of the machine.
@@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian If you put the target line as far away from the mill as possible it's going to help with accuracy. If the target line was 20' away, then the full width of the dot should still be well under a degree of rotation. Most of the "Cat tormentor" class laser pointers I owned back in the day had a dot that was still under 10mm wide at well over 100 metres. Mind you, they tended to have awful low powered laser diodes, but with reasonable budget quality optics. Maybe the more modem budget pointers have awful optics too?
@@Reman1975 Sadly the cheap lasers I have tried do indeed include very cheap optics. I will investigate if there is a cost effective means to improve the clarity of the projected beam.
@@chronovaengineering What I have in mind is some form of adjustment rod which incorporates a dial indicator so that a precise location can be returned to. Otherwise I cant see how it would ever be possible to be 100% on the money.
My DW is temporarily in the sick bay as it needs a new motor and a bearing change. I agree that it's a lovely machine. That said, much as I like the look of the table from an aesthetic point of view, I don't get on very well with these transverse t-slots. Nothing seems to be the right size to conveniently bolt on to them!
Thank you. I have the EMCO milling head and I also appreciate the versatility above rigidity. Over the last 40 years it has paid dividends in the hobby and commercial work I have done.
I've had one of these for years. The original woven round belt became hopelessly elongated wth use and was replaced by 6mm poly belt. This is too stretchy. Yours looks like a narrow V belt. Is that what it is and what's the section size please? Thanks.
Hello. Me again. Do I spy at the top of your mill that you have added a captive drawbar? I hate hammering on the spindle to release the morse taper and have toyed with a few ideas myself.
Hi. I’m shortly about to embark on adding a guidance pillar to my Mark 2 Dore Westbury. Did you use a rectangular flat bar in preference to a round bar for rigidity? What would be a suitable size for the upright bar? Having used the alignment bar would you make any modifications if you were to do it again? Thank you for all your inspirational videos. Much appreciated. 👏👏👍😀 Andrew
Hi Andrew, the rectangular bar was 6x19x190, and yes, I think rigidity is important if using the solid stop approach. The key is to make sure it is correctly aligned before doweling it in place. We also scraped the edges parallel and straight. The contact stop on the ring is made from a rounded piece of brass. It's more repeatable if the contact is in one place rather than trying to align a larger contact area. No retrospective changes come to mind. Good luck with the project!
@@chronovaengineering Hello. Thank you for the reply. Very useful indeed. I will order some precision ground gauge plate to ensure that the bar is perfectly straight. I had not appreciated that your stop block had a rounded brass bar insert. Thank you for letting me know. Looking forward to adding this all to my mill. Wish me luck 🙏🤞😀
Nise machine! Never herd uv it before. I hav a Van Norman #6 universal mill. Its much liter than a Brijport but can do pretty much anything a Brijport can do.
Nice machine. Not too big for a small workshop either. As you probably know I have the Tom Senior which is also pretty small but a great British made old product. Regards. Steve.
I had one of those and seriously disliked it. It ran like a pot of nails as the drive and clutch/planetary gear drive pulleys were badly designed and fitting. The bed and ways are made of steel and wore badly. Work accuracy was poor, rigidity felt worse than my old English bench drill. Was so glad to get rid of it.
![Digital Circus Episode 4 [TRAILER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/abZtsmMUbJo/mqdefault.jpg)
Great video! I have owned and used a Dore Westbury for several years, and use it for model engineering in my workshop, it really is a great machine for the smaller workshop, you just need to know its limitations and work accordingly. Good to see some of your modifications too, given me some ideas. Thank you for producing this lovely video
Thank you for showing your Dore Westbury. I own and use a Mark 2 version and having seen some of your “upgrades” I am inspired to add them to my own machine. It’s a fabulous machine for the home engineer. 👏👏👍😀
Glad you enjoyed it! The MK2 is even better, mainly because of the extra quill travel. We have a MK2 head casting for a future upgrade. Thanks for watching.
@@chronovaengineering I hope you get to fit the Mark 2 head and film the process.
This was awesome! Sometimes it’s not about moving the machine in any car but the shear fact that we need something to fit in a smaller space or deal with micro parts that prove to be difficult to achieve in bigger/regular sized machines, even though not impossible, it is just easier and, in my opinion, more enjoyable and challenging! Great presentation with examples and clear information in terms of machinery that otherwise most of us wouldn’t know about!
Thank you!
Favorite new machining channel! ❤
Never heard of these before but now I want one!
I don't know if you've heard this trick, but apparently, one of the easiest ways to maintain head alignment when raising and lowering these is to solidly mount a cheap laser pointer on the head, have it pointing across the workshop at a clear patch of wall, then mark a vertical line over there. Once you get the height adjusted you just need to swing the column until the laser dot is back on your line.
Ok, a laser pointer isn't exactly a "Period correct" modification, but if the mills actually being used for paying work, it might be a useful shortcut to keeping head alignment.
I have tried the laser idea, but found that the size of the dot is quite large and it led to an inaccuracy bigger than I was happy with.
I wonder if a more expensive laser would have a better resolution?
I do like the idea of a fixed post against which a rotating collar can be aligned as demonstrated here. I am definitely going to adapt that idea for my machine.
I have heard of this modification. As Andrew mentioned, I have concerns about the accuracy due to the spot size but it think it might need some investigation. The fixed post approach works well - the slight issue being any innacuracies in that rotating collar do get transfered into head position. These are small though and can be sorted by always moving the collar by an integer number of turns. There are a few other tricks you can use, for instance, rather than aligning the head for a reaming operation, the post can be left unlocked, allowing the reamer to 'float' to position. It's certainly a quirk of the machine.
@@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian If you put the target line as far away from the mill as possible it's going to help with accuracy. If the target line was 20' away, then the full width of the dot should still be well under a degree of rotation. Most of the "Cat tormentor" class laser pointers I owned back in the day had a dot that was still under 10mm wide at well over 100 metres. Mind you, they tended to have awful low powered laser diodes, but with reasonable budget quality optics. Maybe the more modem budget pointers have awful optics too?
@@Reman1975 Sadly the cheap lasers I have tried do indeed include very cheap optics. I will investigate if there is a cost effective means to improve the clarity of the projected beam.
@@chronovaengineering What I have in mind is some form of adjustment rod which incorporates a dial indicator so that a precise location can be returned to. Otherwise I cant see how it would ever be possible to be 100% on the money.
when i did my gunsmithing apprenticeship my teacher had on of these for fine detail work on the gun parts. for big work we had a bridgeport knee mill.
Hi can you also feature more of the Dore Westbury milling machine in action? A great mill from the past.
My DW is temporarily in the sick bay as it needs a new motor and a bearing change. I agree that it's a lovely machine. That said, much as I like the look of the table from an aesthetic point of view, I don't get on very well with these transverse t-slots. Nothing seems to be the right size to conveniently bolt on to them!
What a cool machine, thanks.
Thank you. I have the EMCO milling head and I also appreciate the versatility above rigidity. Over the last 40 years it has paid dividends in the hobby and commercial work I have done.
I've had one of these for years. The original woven round belt became hopelessly elongated wth use and was replaced by 6mm poly belt. This is too stretchy. Yours looks like a narrow V belt. Is that what it is and what's the section size please? Thanks.
Hello. Me again. Do I spy at the top of your mill that you have added a captive drawbar? I hate hammering on the spindle to release the morse taper and have toyed with a few ideas myself.
Hi. I’m shortly about to embark on adding a guidance pillar to my Mark 2 Dore Westbury. Did you use a rectangular flat bar in preference to a round bar for rigidity? What would be a suitable size for the upright bar?
Having used the alignment bar would you make any modifications if you were to do it again?
Thank you for all your inspirational videos. Much appreciated. 👏👏👍😀 Andrew
Hi Andrew, the rectangular bar was 6x19x190, and yes, I think rigidity is important if using the solid stop approach. The key is to make sure it is correctly aligned before doweling it in place. We also scraped the edges parallel and straight. The contact stop on the ring is made from a rounded piece of brass. It's more repeatable if the contact is in one place rather than trying to align a larger contact area. No retrospective changes come to mind. Good luck with the project!
@@chronovaengineering Hello. Thank you for the reply. Very useful indeed. I will order some precision ground gauge plate to ensure that the bar is perfectly straight. I had not appreciated that your stop block had a rounded brass bar insert. Thank you for letting me know. Looking forward to adding this all to my mill. Wish me luck 🙏🤞😀
Beautiful ❤️ machines..
Another informative video from yourselves, I'll look at my Dore Westbury in a better light now!!
Graham
Nise machine! Never herd uv it before. I hav a Van Norman #6 universal mill. Its much liter than a Brijport but can do pretty much anything a Brijport can do.
Nice machine. Not too big for a small workshop either. As you probably know I have the Tom Senior which is also pretty small but a great British made old product.
Regards.
Steve.
The Tom Seniors are lovely mills.
Great video
I had no idea machines like this even existed
You're not selling a Dore M2 are you?
I'll stick with my bridgeport.
I would too if I had room for a Bridgeport.
I had one of those and seriously disliked it. It ran like a pot of nails as the drive and clutch/planetary gear drive pulleys were badly designed and fitting. The bed and ways are made of steel and wore badly. Work accuracy was poor, rigidity felt worse than my old English bench drill. Was so glad to get rid of it.